Abstract

Musculoskeletal conditions are a major burden on individuals, healthcare systems, and social care systems throughout the world, with indirect costs having the predominant economic impact. Aging is a major contributing factor to the development and progression of arthritic and musculoskeletal diseases. Indeed, aging and inflammation (often referred to as "inflammaging") are critical risk factors for the development of osteoarthritis (OA), which is one the most common forms of joint disease. The term "chondrosenescence" has recently been introduced to define the age-dependent deterioration of chondrocyte function and how it undermines cartilage function in OA. An important component of chondrosenescence is the age-related deregulation of subcellular signalling pathways in chondrocytes. This mini-review discusses the role of age-related alterations in chondrocyte signaling pathways. In this article we focus our attention on two major areas: age-dependent alterations in transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling and changes in protein kinase and phosphoprotein phosphatase activities in aging chondrocytes. A better understanding of the basic signaling mechanisms underlying ageing in chondrocytes is likely to facilitate the development of new therapeutic and preventive strategies for OA and a range of other age-related osteoarticular disorders.

This is the peer-reviewed but unedited manuscript version of the following article: [insert full citation, e.g. Gerontology 2017;63:29-35 (DOI: 10.1159/000448711). The final, published version is available at http://www.karger.com/?doi=10.1159/000448711